Natura 2000 and the regulation of agricultural ammonia emissions

This article provides a comparative analysis of the regulation of ammonia emissions, primarily from livestock installations, in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. It discusses the challenges of regulating agricultural ammonia emissions in view of the rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union (cjeu) on Art. 6(3) of the Habitats Directive. It is argued that the need to ensure certainty concerning the absence of significant effects on Natura 2000 sites is challenged by the uncertainties regarding both the state of individual habitat types and the potential impact of individual projects. A more integrated or programmatic approach may provide an alternative approach to individual assessments, but it is necessary to ensure that additional loads from new or enlarged livestock installations are permitted in areas with high ammonia loads only where it is certain that a programmatic approach will ensure that there are no harmful effects. This might be an almost impossible task

1 of 25 Journal of Environmental Law Advance Access published March 11

Abstract This article presents a comparative perspective of the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD). The investigated Member States are the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Romania, Italy, Spain and Portugal. The implementation of the WFD in these Member States was researched with the help of legal experts who completed questionnaires or were interviewed and-limited to five Member States-through interviews with civil servants who were involved with the implemention of the WFD. This research demonstrates that the WFD leaves so much room for discretion that the Member States adopt different approaches concerning the implementation of fundamental parts of the Directive. Although the need for flexibility due to the differences in circumstances is recognised, the new governance approach of the WFD demonstrates a risk that unambitious national practices will lea